How do YOU determine longevity projection and sillage?

How does one determine longevity, projection and sillage?

Story:
I work part-time at a department store chain similar similar to Macy's. I went to the fragrance counter before we opened and sneaked 5 sprays from L'Homme YSV. I used 5 sprays cuz I believe that my skin eats up scents. The sprays were put on my neck, 2x chest, 1x on each wrist, 1x on each elbow-crease.

How can I tell if my skin chemistry is eating away at the scent or was if my nose became numb to the scent?

I could smell it roughly until 3 hours after the sprays. At that point, I was taking a deep breath to see if I could smell it, which I could vaguely pick up.

FWIW, I liked L'Homme. It smelled like Belgiam Waffles with syrup and berries (Strawberries?) with a nice spicy note somewhere in the top note... I'm being serious.

Re: How do YOU determine longevity projection and sillage?

Smell my wrist. I can smell many scents for many hours, so if there's one that I cannot detect, or only very faintly, I don't really assume that my nose is the reason but the scent. You could always get a second opinion by letting someone else smell you.

You could also measure scent life in BN threads that you were able to read. 3 would be average, 5 good longevity, etc :-p

Re: How do YOU determine longevity projection and sillage?

Basically if you smell it then it's there. How much it projects and the amount of sillage is going to come from other's noses. Normally if something is still pretty strong a couple of hours after you sprayed it then it's probably projecting quite well. On the other hand some fragrances open up strong and fade quickly.

Re: How do YOU determine longevity projection and sillage?

My technique is to put one spray on my wrist or back of hand, then to time it.
If it is there with strength after 3 hours, then it it has good longevity and sillage.
If it is there with little strength after 3 hours, then it probably won't have good longevity and sillage, though it may have good longevity of the "skin scent" type.
If it is gone by three hours or under, it won't have good lonegvity.

This test doesn't work for some scents like Gucci Rush and Jill Sander Pure Man. They disappear in under two hours, but reactivate strongly with some perspiration.
Regards,
Renato

Re: How do YOU determine longevity projection and sillage?

Originally Posted by Renato

My technique is to put one spray on my wrist or back of hand, then to time it.
If it is there with strength after 3 hours, then it it has good longevity and sillage.
If it is there with little strength after 3 hours, then it probably won't have good longevity and sillage, though it may have good longevity of the "skin scent" type.
If it is gone by three hours or under, it won't have good lonegvity.

This test doesn't work for some scents like Gucci Rush and Jill Sander Pure Man. They disappear in under two hours, but reactivate strongly with some perspiration.
Regards,
Renato

Re: How do YOU determine longevity projection and sillage?

When I first started into the world of fragrance, I complained repeatedly that nothing lasted on me. I have since found many nice frags that last all day. Ask others whether you are still projecting after a few hours, your nose may be "numb" to the fragrance's smell. If they can't smell it either, you can try putting a layer of unscented lotion on first, it helps maintain the quick disappearing frags. As a rule (rules have exceptions) many dept. store frags don't last more than 4-6hrs. My "best" frags have a projection to my nose from my chest/neck 6-8hrs later, so I catch a whiff of it off and on through the day. I won't waste my money on something that I must bury my nose it to smell, or that disappears before I even get to work.

Re: How do YOU determine longevity projection and sillage?

As long as no olfactory fatigue kicks in after a few minutes, no matter how generously and even wastefully I applied a fragrance, then this very fragrance is - subjectively speaking - good enough for me, in terms of these three criteria.